Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Sells 38,104 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,515,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,104 shares during the period. Ally Financial comprises approximately 2.1% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $89,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 23,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ally Financial by 39.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 0.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 75,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Trading Up 3.8 %

ALLY stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.44. The company had a trading volume of 672,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,196. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.39. Ally Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.52 and a 52 week high of $45.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.95.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ally Financial Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is 48.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research lowered Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.38.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc, a digital financial-services company, provides various digital financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. The company operates through Automotive Finance Operations, Insurance Operations, Mortgage Finance Operations, and Corporate Finance Operations segments.